The United Nations today welcomed the release of 24 children by Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, and called for the acceleration of discharges in line with the commitment made last year by the Government to end child rights violations. (more…)
Burma’s government will finally let the UN and international aid groups access all displaced civilians in war-torn Kachin State in northern Burma, a government official said on Tuesday. It had previously blocked international relief from reaching thousands of civilians in rebel-held areas. (more…)
On the sandy banks of the Jeyang River that separates Burma and China, hundreds of Kachin families are living in makeshift huts made of bamboo and plastic sheets. (more…)
The United Nations envoy to Myanmar today called on all parties in the country to work to ease tensions, resume dialogue, and ensure that there is humanitarian access to those who have been affected by the violence in the states of Kachin and Rakhine. (more…)
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Wednesday it had permission from Thailand to access some 850 people, many thought to be from Myanmar’s Rohingya minority, held after raids on hidden camps in Thailand’s far South. (more…)
About 13 000 boat people, including many stateless Rohingya Muslims, fled Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh in 2012 with hundreds dying during the perilous sea voyage, the UN said on Friday. (more…)
The United Nations refugee agency is urging Thailand not to deport a group of Rohingya Muslim boat people, saying they could be in danger if they are sent back to Burma. (more…)
Thai authorities Tuesday detained the group, including 20 children, from an unsafe vessel off Bon Island, in Phuket province, 600 kilometres south-west of Bangkok. (more…)
Vijay Nambiar currently serves as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Adviser on Myanmar, a role he has held since 2010. The veteran Indian diplomat has also served as Chef de Cabinet to the Secretary-General from 2007-2012. (more…)
The U.N. General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution welcoming positive changes in Myanmar but expressing serious concern at an upsurge of sectarian violence between Muslims and Buddhists in Rakhine state. (more…)
A United Nations envoy, Vijay Nambiar, has wrapped up a visit to Myanmar during which he was able to meet with people displaced by the inter-communal violence this year in Rakhine state, as well as discuss with the Government how to address the problems facing the communities there. (more…)
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is to implement a three-year new program in Burma providing US $144 million for various projects, many of which are scheduled to be initiated in rural and border areas, state-run media reported on Friday.
The UN agency will coordinate its activities through the Ministry of Border Affairs, said its Deputy Minister Zaw Win.
Mizzima reported in October that the three-year plan is to be carried out in Kachin, Karen, Chin, Rakhine and Shan states, regions which are the location of Burma’s longest ongoing ethnic armed movements and among the poorest areas of the country.
The three main tasks will include eliminating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, ensuring environmental sustainability, which is one of the UN Millennium Development Goals, and promotion of democracy and human rights through good governance.
Link: http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8536-undp-confirms-3-year-plan-for-rural-burma.html
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator,Valerie Amos, is meeting with Burma’s President Thein Sein after visiting displaced peoples camps in Rakhine and Kachin states. Amos is expected to discuss the sensitive issue of citizenship for the Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority, as well as improving conditions and aid access in the camps. (more…)
Six months after inter-communal violence broke out in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, some 115,000 displaced people are still living in challenging conditions. “UNHCR has distributed relief supplies to nearly two-thirds of the affected communities but the needs are still massive,” spokesman Adrian Edwards said on Friday. (more…)
The British government said it welcomed a decision by the United Nations to adopt a resolution addressing human rights issues in Myanmar. (more…)
Washington – A UN General Assembly committee on Monday praised Burma’s ongoing reform process, but urged it to quell the communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Arakan State and to better protect the rights of Rohingya Muslims. (more…)
Some 36,000 people who have been displaced by inter-communal violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state will benefit from an additional $5.3 million in assistance provided by the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the world body announced today. (more…)
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice
President of the Commission issued the following statement today: (more…)
The Burmese government is ready to sign an international agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that would require it to declare all nuclear facilities and materials, according to an Associated Press (AP) report on Wednesday. (more…)
Burma democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been appointed an ambassador of the UN’s programme on HIV and AIDS and has been tasked with fighting discrimination against people living with the disease, the agency said Tuesday. (more…)